After nine seasons, the CBS comedy’s farewell told viewers, in essence, “Joke’s on you for ever caring how Ted met his kids’ mother, because in the end, she was gonna die, and he was gonna wind up with Robin even though by then she’d married Barney!”

The internet just about exploded after Ted once again appeared outside Robin’s apartment building with a blue French horn; TVLine readers gave the series ender an average grade of “C-” (which seems generous given the outcry).




Within hours, series co-creator Craig Thomas took to Twitter to sorta-defend the controversial climax. “The fact that we have been a TV sitcom that has received this much passion from fans, for nine years (not just tonight) — thank you,” he wrote.

“We wrote a comedy with dramatic elements till the very end… We did a finale about life’s twists and turns and that [what you expect] is not always what happens.”




Among the outcomes Thomas probably wasn’t expecting:

the divisiveness would tarnish the series’ legacy, and the anger would, well… last forever.

https://tvline.com/lists/tv-controversies-reactions-angry-fans-character-deaths/how-i-met-your-mother-ending/